Would you like a kids bath activity that:
A. Helps motivate reluctant bathers to get in the bathtub;
B. Reinforces literacy concepts in a surprising way; and
C. Reveals a basic science concept to young children.
Well, you've come to the right place! This bath time "ice fishing" activity does all three!
From personal experience I know that this bath time motivator activity really works. I used to do it all the time because the surprise factor involved was just the trick need to encourage the kiddo to get in the tub when he was going through an "I hate baths!" phase.
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It's very easy to put together. While this kids bath activity does require you to plan in advance, it only takes 3 minutes to put together.
DIY Bath Activity
- Assemble your materials
You'll need a plastic container, and some waterproof toys animals. We used fish from a Toob. Note: do not give small children toys that may be a choking hazard.
You also need some letters. We used these bath letters (and they are so inexpensive!) and picked out the letters F I S H.
- Make the "surprise"
Place the letters and toys in the plastic container, fill with water and place in the freezer.
- Tell your child this bath time is a momentous occasion.
When it's bath time, tell your child you have a super secret surprise. Really hype it up. The more mysterious and excited you sound, the more they'll buy into it.
I'm sure you've had lots of practice trying to convince your child that something they hate is actually great. Put those acting skills to work. - Put child and ice fishing toy in the bath
Once you place the ice block in the water, your child won't be able to resist trying to free the toys from their frozen prison!
There's a bit of science involved and you can explain why the ice doesn't melt right away if you want. Or you can save that science lesson for another day.
If you used the letters to spell a word, help your child (if needed) work out the arrangement of the letters.
My kid loved this so much he would ask for a "scrambled word mystery" every night!
VARIATIONS:
If your child is working on counting, place a number and the corresponding number of toys in the ice block.
Alternatively, if you want to try some basic math, freeze an equation. For example freeze a 1 and 2 and add 3 toys.
For younger children who might not appreciate the literacy or numbers twist, simply freeze toys in a block. That is just as much fun.
MORE BATH TIME MOTIVATORS:
Fanny Harville says
Since Norris's whole life has been an "I hate baths" phase, I wish I'd thought of this -- 4 years ago -- and will definitely try it out. Much better than skipping baths, which has been my way of dealing with this issue. I am so impressed by your creative parenting!
Mom and Kiddo says
Yes, the "I hate baths" phase is definitely challenging. This works for a while, and sometimes I withhold the "surprise" until after he was soaped up, or his hair was washed... or whatever needed to be done. But we have also had our stinky stretches, when I just let him not take a bath!
La Dolce Vita says
Brilliant and so simple!
Nina says
Cute idea! It is only going to be 60 degrees today here in Seattle so we will be taking a warm bath but next time it is hot (ha) I'm going to try this one.
Valerie @ Frugal Family Fun Blog says
This is such a great idea! I love the scrambled word game.... that's a nice twist!
Bona Fide Mama says
great idea! today i discovered the joy of freezing toys for a plastic dinosaur excavation! i love this idea too.
Ashley says
love this!